Power Expansion Kicks Into Gear

ST. CLOUD — Construction is scheduled to start in September on an electric substation off U.S. Highway 192 as the city's $21.9 million expansion project kicks into high gear, officials said.

City Manager Jim Chisholm said St. Cloud is moving forward with plans to build a 230,000-volt transmission line to connect with Florida Power Corp.'s Holopaw substation.

Originally scheduled to be finished in October, the project has been delayed because of legal problems and controversy over the location of high- voltage power lines.

At a council meeting Thursday, Chisholm said work started recently on a new electric transformer at the central plant on 10th Street, while construction is expected to begin in late summer on the east substation on County Road 500A, a few miles north of U.S. 192.

Chisholm said the design phase should be completed in October for underground power lines on Ninth Street.

And, if the city can obtain enough 90-foot high concrete poles, construction may start later this year on electric lines from Holopaw, he said.

Negotiations are going smoothly with the Deseret Ranch to purchase rights of way to build power lines on the ranch's pasture land, Chisholm said.

Officials also are trying to buy land from several property owners in Narcoossee and along County Road 15, he said.